This book was fascinating! I felt as though I was reading about this topic from a whole new perspective as the author focused on individual people, narrating their lives both before and after the voyage on the Titanic. It overlapped nicely with much of the history I've read recently about this era. It did not fall into the typical mythology of the ship but highlighted things one may not have already known. I recommend it to anyone interested in the Titanic, the Edwardian era or Gilded Age. I was sorry to see it end. I won this in a Goodreads giveaway (not sure if that needs mentioning, only I seem constantly to see it mentioned by other reviewers, so here's to conformity), and I couldn't put it down. The book evidences meticulous research -- author Hugh Brewster even details such minutia as the "white film from the tons of tallow, train oil, and soap used to grease its passage [that] spread over the water" at the Titanic's ceremonial launch (pg. 12). While the book's emphasis is, of course, the "gilded lives," Brewster nevertheless remembers the less privileged passengers and crew, often starkly contrasting their lives (and deaths) with those of the upper crust. For instance, "while the Belfast men toasted their success and the primacy of their race, a shipyard worker named James Dobbins lay in hospital, his leg having been pinned beneath one of the wooden supports for the hull during the launch. Dobbins would die from his injuries the next day" (pg. 12). It is no easy feat to blend so many disparate lives into a coherent and engaging narrative, but Brewster does it remarkably well. I (who had only the dimmest prior familiarity with just a few of these notables) was able to follow the varied threads with little difficulty (only occasionally would I confuse one passenger with another, and have to flip back through the book to review). I find few flaws with this book. It is adequately, not splendidly, written; yet generally clear and always interesting. I might shave off half a star for the lackluster writing, but as the rating system doesn't permit such pedantry, I'll give it five stars. After all, I massively enjoyed it, and -- perhaps more truly the sign of a wonderful book -- am consequently now obsessed with the Edwardian era (and on the prowl for more in-depth books).
What do You think about Fatal Voyage Guilded Lives (2000)?
Nice details about what happened afterwards to many of the survivors.
—maxbr4nd
Lively, but not particularly deep. Social history.
—kelydreambgirl
